06/15/2015: The Arctic challenge exercise is now completed as of June 5 2015. According to the SCAN Post: Arctic Challenge Exercise 2015 (ACE 2015), one of Europe’s largest fighter jet exercises in the Nordic countries with more than 4000 persons participating started on May 25. Lead nation this time is Norway as…
2015-06-10 By Robbin Laird and Murielle Delaporte During a visit to the 31st Marine Air Group, we visited VFMAT-501, the Warlords and met with the CO of the Squadron “OD” Bachman, Major Brian Bann and Squadron Leader Hugh Nichols from the Royal Air Force. In separate pieces, we are publishing…
2015-06-12 By Robbin Laird and Murielle Delaporte Marine Air Group 31 is located at MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina. It is the home of six F-18 squadrons and one F-35 squadron. The F-35 Squadron – VMFAT-501 – is training coalition and USMC F-35B pilots to operate the F-35B. When Second Line…
06/15/2015: by Sgt. Tatum Vayavananda BALTIC SEA – Marines from four NATO nations come together during BALTOPS from June 7-17. U.K. Royal Marine Commandos, Finnish Coastal Jaegers, Swedish and U.S. Marines integrate to practice expeditionary, ship-to-shore assaults to enhance their capability to work together as a combined amphibious force. “The U.K. [Commandos]…
2015-06-13 RVNspotting has an interesting video showing some NATO jets taking off from EFRO. Rovaniemi Airport (Finnish: Rovaniemen lentoasema) (IATA: RVN, ICAO: EFRO) is the fifth biggest airport in Finland by annual number of passengers (in 2012), located in Rovaniemi, Finland, about 10 kilometres (6 mi) north of Rovaniemi city centre. The…
2015-06-04 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake In a meeting last year in the United Kingdom with one of the RAF officers responsible for the introduction of the F-35 into the UK forces, Group Captain Paul Godfrey highlighted the behind the scenes work to roll out an F-35 fleet, an…
2015-06-09 By Robbin Laird On May 26, 2015, when journalists visited the USS Wasp to engage with the ship’s crew and personnel involved in operational testing, a panel was held at the end of the visit with several Marine Corps and Navy participants in OT-1. The material presented provided a…
2015-06-08 By Dr. Les Nunn In his article entitled “Re-Norming the Asymmetric Advantage in Air Dominance: ‘Going to War With the Air Force You Have,’” former Secretary of the Air Force, the Honorable Michael W. Wynne, concluded his paper with “This march towards the future must begin in our imagination…
